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Soldering, and the limitations of quadriplegia.

A project log for Raimi's Arm - Bionic Arm for Kids

Open source, high functioning, myoelectric, bionic arm for kids.

patrick-joycePatrick Joyce 08/11/2016 at 19:250 Comments

Last Friday my Dad came over, to wire up the prototype arm. I'm a quadriplegic myself, and can't talk or use my hands, so I rely on carers, friends and family to build my projects. Unfortunately, my dad is the only one with good soldering skills, and he has limited time. He managed to get it all soldered up last week, but then he ran out of time, and we didn't get to test it before he had to leave. I tested it myself after he left. The screen worked on usb power, but nothing else did. My troubleshooting stopped there, as its a mess of tangled wires.

It has been very frustrating sitting here for a week, looking at it, knowing I could fix it in minutes, if only my hands still worked.

Dads back tomorrow, and we'll sort it then. But meanwhile, i've come up with a new wiring design for the second prototype, with headers on the pro micro. The new design should allow me to test, and troubleshoot each component individually.

In other news, I've had problems with my homemade torsion springs, getting the spring power right. They also increase the build complexity considerably, which isn't a good thing. So while I remake the springs, I am also testing a different design - with elastic cord as the finger return mechanism. More news on that in the next update.

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